Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to associate myself with the comments made by Senator Sterle and make a contribution to the debate on the report of the Australian parliamentary delegation to Egypt and Israel, which took place from 31 October to 6 November 2008. I concur with Senator Sterle’s comments about the spirit in which the delegation was conducted. The group did gel particularly well, even to the extent of some decisions we had to make on variations to the original program to fit in specific interests. Right from the beginning of the delegation, we worked very well together to get the outcomes we were all looking for.

I will begin with our arrival in Egypt and going down to El Alamein to take part in the commemorations there. As Senator Sterle has said, it is quite a profound experience to see directly where our troops have fought and the conditions they lived in compared with our modern-day experience. To even consider the difficulties that they would have faced in their time really brings it back to you. I add my congratulations to the role of the ADF in those commemorative services and, in particular, the major contribution they make to peacekeeping in the Sinai. It was great to meet them and see the professionalism and the pride with which they undertake their jobs there. Also an important perspective for me was the personal development and growth in their careers and the general capabilities of our troops which come about because of their roles on these postings. It was really great to see the pride with which they conduct themselves in the work they are doing and also the way they represent our country. It was really fantastic.

The value of our trip was that we saw two countries with slightly different perspectives of the situation in the region. We were persistently given the perspective of the 22 Arab countries on peace in the region during the time we were in Egypt and by the end of our trip it was quite clear to us what that view was. It was also good to hear of the hope they hold for a resolution to the current difficulties that exist in the region. I only hope that can materialise at some point.

One of the things that really grasped me was in relation to the importance of our wheat trade with Egypt. When you consider that each day the Egyptians produce more than 200 million loaves of 20-centimetre flatbread weighing 130 grams and subsidised for the people at all levels of the country, it is a staggering number—200 million loaves of bread. A major concern of the Minister for Social Solidarity, whom we would see as having a slightly different perspective, is to make sure that that bread is available every day; otherwise there would be significant social unrest. Our wheat trade, which provides an input to this bread, was of major importance in our discussions with the Minister for Social Solidarity. We met him on our first night in Cairo and his major concern was what our wheat crop was going to be like and whether we were likely to be providing wheat to his country.

We also had the opportunity to visit an abattoir that will be taking Australian live beef. We got a good insight into what was going on with that trade. The standards that they are complying with and the importance with which they place the live trade from Australia and the needs of the country were quite interesting.

While in Israel we had the opportunity to participate in some commemorative services at Beersheba and the role of Australian defence services played in that region came out. We had further interaction with them when we went into the Golan Heights. We saw the proximity they are working in with the Israelis and the Syrians. It was interesting for us to be able to observe those differences.

As Senator Sterle said, when we were at Ashkelon visiting the world’s largest desalination plant that was the day the Israelis found the Hamas operatives in the tunnels. We did notice a fair bit of aircraft activity that day. We were not too certain what it was. As it turned out, it was not just aircraft activity in the region; there were other projectiles. That facility, which is next to a power station, is obviously a significant target for Hamas. When we were conducting our briefing with the manager of the facility we expressed our desire to go outside and walk around. He was very reticent about leaving the facility. He told us several times that he could show us plenty of photographs and give us an extensive briefing of the facility. It was not until he informed us that the briefing room that we were in was also their bomb shelter that we got a sense of the issues that he considered to be of significance as part of that process.

We did in fact go for a walk around and have a look outside. It goes to show the issues that Israelis deal with on a day-to-day basis. When we went down to Siderot to talk to the mayor, again the issue of Israelis having to live with the spectre of rockets arriving in their backyards on a daily basis was quite profound.

We were privileged to meet with some significant people. Our briefing with Mark Regev, an Australian who is working in the Prime Minister’s office in Israel, was a highlight for me. He is obviously highly trusted. He gave us a very good briefing on the issues and, importantly, again expressed high hopes for the peace process. All of us who have come away from that trip hope that the hopes that were expressed by the Arab community while we were in Egypt and by the Israelis can come to pass. One issue that was being discussed at the time we were in Israel was: would Israel go back into Gaza? That has obviously come to pass. I sincerely hope that the desires and the hopes from both sides of that argument can be put into effect as soon as possible. It is certainly a conflict that has gone on for too long.

Like Senator Sterle, I would like to thank my fellow members of the delegation and particularly thank those who helped to pull it all together. It was really well organised in Egypt—well, as well as you can organise things because of the vagaries of working in that country. Anyone who has been there would well know that it is very difficult to get to places on time because the traffic is so variable. Stephanie Shwabsky and Hugh Robilliard, whom I think we nearly drove to distraction, did a fantastic job. James Larsen in Israel showed his true professionalism. Ben Scott looked after things on the Palestinian side and Patricia Smith stayed with us throughout our time there. I thank them all for the efforts they put into a very successful trip. I would also like to mention Major General Ian Gordon, another Australian who is playing a significant part in the region in heading up the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation. He is highly regarded. They all contributed to a really significant trip. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.